Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

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Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
Image:Hangin with Mr. Cooper.jpg
Format Comedy
Created by Jeff Franklin
Starring Mark Curry
Raven-Symoné (2-5)
Saundra Quarterman (2-5)
Nell Carter (2-3)
Marquise Wilson
Dawnn Lewis (1)
Holly Robinson
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 101 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 30 minutes (with commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run September 22, 1992 – August 30, 1997

Hangin' with Mr. Cooper is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997, starring Mark Curry and Holly Robinson. The show took place in Oakland, California. Hangin with Mr. Cooper was produced by Bickley-Warren Productions and Jeff Franklin Productions, in association with Lorimar Television.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Season 1

In the first season, the characters were Mark Cooper, Vanessa Russell, and Robin Dumars. They all lived as roommates in a house that was owned by Mark (Vanessa and Robin were the tenants). In the pilot episode, Mark got a job as a substitute teacher for a high school science class (though later in the first season, he got a job teaching physical education, which is what he wanted to teach). Mark was also a basketball coach for the school's teams. Robin was a music teacher at the same high school at which Mark taught. In the middle of the first season, the original landlord died, and the house was purchased by the parents of Tyler Foster, who were Mark's neighbors. After purchasing the house, Tyler's father told Mark, Vanessa, and Robin that they were allowed to stay in the house for 1 month. However, after Tyler told his parents that he liked Mark, Vanessa, and Robin, they decided to let them stay permanently.

Mark had briefly played basketball with the Golden State Warriors, but was soon cut from the team.

[edit] Seasons 2 through 4

The show moved to Friday nights in the second season as part of the TGIF block. It also was remodeled into more of a family-oriented show, instead of an adult oriented show, as in the first season. In the second season premiere, Tyler mentioned that Mark had purchased the house from his parents. Also in the second season premiere, Mark's cousin, Geneva Lee, and her daughter, Nicole Lee, moved in with Mark and Vanessa. Robin was no longer living with Mark and Vanessa. Geneva took over teaching music at Mark's school. Around the time Geneva and Nicole joined the show, Mark's school welcomed a new principal, P.J. Moore (played by Nell Carter), who was Mark's babysitter when he was a child. She was replaced in Season 4 by Geneva.

In 1996, Mark proposed to Vanessa in the episode Will She or Won't She. This episode was a cliffhanger season finale that was aired on May 10, 1996. The following season premiere episode (The Ring) was not aired until June 21, 1997, more than a year later. Vanessa accepted Mark's proposal in this episode. The Ring was the first episode of the fifth and last season of the series.

Seasons 3 and 4 were directed by Mark Linn-Baker, best known as Larry Appleton on the hit ABC series Perfect Strangers.

[edit] The final season

The last season was 13 episodes long, half the length of most television seasons, and was aired in the summer, when most television shows are in reruns. In addition, this season was aired on Saturday nights -- a move away from its traditional Friday night slot on TGIF.

The series finale (Getting Personal) was aired August 30, 1997. In this episode, Vanessa wrote a personal ad in the newspaper, and wanted Mark to figure out which ad was hers, and to answer it. Mark decided to answer all ads in the paper, tell everyone to look for the man with the rose, and then not wear a rose. Mark figured that Vanessa would be happy enough that Mark answered her ad, and would not worry about the rose, and that the other women would not get mad at him because, without a rose, they would not know that Mark is the one who answered their ads. Earvin knew about Mark's plan, and decided to go to the restaurant with the rose, so that he could get a date with 1 of the women whose ad Mark had answered. Vanessa and the other women figured out that the same man had answered all their ads. They decided that the man with the rose would be the dead man with the rose. When Earvin showed up, they all got mad at him, thinking he was the one who answered their ads. The finale ended with a goodbye from the cast.

While the series finale was viewed in its entirety on ABC affiliates in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones, ABC pre-empted the episode on the West Coast, 5 minutes in, to break the news of the death of Princess Diana, and the finale was never re-run on ABC. Other than several complaints from viewers on the West Coast, there was little, if any, controversy, as this episode generally had low ratings, and aired on a Saturday.[citation needed]

[edit] Theme song

The show had 3 different theme songs throughout its run. The first season's theme song was performed by Dawnn Lewis, Holly Robinson, and the R&B quartet En Vogue. R&B male crooner and Shalamar lead singer Howard Hewett sung the second season theme, which was a remake of Sam and Dave's R&B Top 10 hit Soul Man. Soul singer James Brown would go on to sing the third season theme, which became the main theme song until the series ended.

[edit] Cast

[edit] External links

v • d • e
TGIF
v • d • e
SNICK and TEENick television series